Linden

Blink and you'll miss it.

Between Faulconbridge and Woodford, road and railway builders have faced the toughest challenges after the two escarpments. Here are the narrowest parts of the ridge, with steep gorges on either side.

Linden was the site of a toll collectors cottage (another was located at Mt Victoria), the site being chosen because it was hard to bypass. So hard, in fact, that it had to be demolished to make way for the railway.

Turn left off the highway at Tollgate Drive and follow the signs to Glossop Road, Kings Cave and Caley's Repulse.

Caley's Repulse is a pile of stones said to mark the final point of a failed attempt to cross the Mountains by George Caley, however most historians doubt its authenticity. The stones are a little obscured in the bush and are close to wonderfully preserved sections of Cox's Road, most of it carved out of sandstone.

Just off Glossop Road is the headstone of John Donohue, who legend has it was a constable shot by a bushranger in 1837. The headstone is at the head of the track leading to Kings Cave, believed to have been used by the Kings Own Regiment, who guarded the convict road builders.

Between Linden & Woodford is Captain Bull's Camp. Bull was responsible for upgrading this section of road using the usual convict labour.

To the west of the picnic area are 'whipping stone' also known as 'The Grooved Rock' and the 'Convict Cell' or 'Powder Store'.

Folklore has it that the grooves in the "whipping stone" were made by whips used on recalcitrant convicts, and that the 'Convict Cell', also known as the 'Powder Store', was a lock up for them.